1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of and a system for assembling a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Robots have been employed to transfer vehicle bodies from one working station to another in a vehicle body assembly line. Such robots are often provided with an arm on which a material handling member for handling a body panel, which is to be incorporated into the vehicle body and a welding gun are removably mounted. That is, the material handling member is mounted on the arm when the robot transfers the body panel to the incorporating position, i.e., the position from which the body panel may be incorporated into the vehicle body, and when it welds the body panel to the vehicle body, the robot changes the material handling member for the welding gun. (See U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,749, for instance.)
In the case where the welding gun mounted on the robot is a general purpose gun, a bulge or the like on the body panel near the area to be welded can interfere with the gun and prevent welding of the body panel from taking place. In such a case, the general purpose welding gun must be changed for a welding gun used exclusively for a particular welding. However, switching the welding guns is troublesome and requires additional accessories such as a transformer, which adds to the manufacturing cost.